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Potty training, taking you child completely off the diapers.

Hello, my two year old daughter knows to use the potty. However I only let her use it during the day, when she is at home. When she is going out or at nights, I put on the diaper on her. However, I would like to get her totally off the diapers but I don't know how to start. I am basically scared to let her go out or go to bed without it. Is there any sure sign to let you know she is ready to take things to the next level; that is going solely without the diapers. Another thing is, if I put on the pull-ups she will not go to the potty, she will wet it.

I have never been a fan of pull-ups either. With that being said, if she is using the potty during the day she may very well be ready. In my experience, there is not sure fire way to know for sure and some accidents are likely. However, the biggest indicator for many people that a toddler is ready to go totally diaper free is if they are no longer wetting their diapers during the night. They may be wetting it as soon as they wake up, just as we go to the potty as soon as we wake up, but if you are checking her half way through the night and she seems pretty dry then she is probably learning to hold it. That is the big thing for toddlers, learning to get up and use the potty at night or hold it and for most it is the last step in potty learning.

To make things more complicated, some children will go weeks without wetting at night and then suddenly have an accident. It is a process, a messy one, but you have to have patience with it. Sometimes I think kids learn to hold it because they wet themselves a few times at night and do not like the feel of it. However, I assure you, if she wets the bed she will let you know. I would try a few diaper-free nights, with a mattress protector beneath the sheets, and see what happens.

Nighttime training is tricky and it's just a matter of her bladder being big enough to hold the urine until the next morning. Stopping liquids before bedime and such may help. I would still use a pull up or diaper at night until she can stay dry all the way through but if you don't want to do that there are pads you can put down that will absorb the moisture.

As for outings. This was a tough one for me bt I finally just bit the bullet and I would make my boys use the toilet before we left the house, while we were out (they loved visiting the toilet everywhere we went and though it was sort of a pain we didn't have any accidents) and as soon as we walked through the door. Also take along some dry pants and undies just in case she does have an accident. It wasn't that difficult getting them potty trained when we were on outings I think I was making it more difficult than it needed to be

I agree that there really is no way to know for sure if your child is ready or not. It sounds like your child is doing well with toilet training, so she may be ready for outings and bedtime with no nappy. Does she still wet her nappy at night? When my children seemed ready, they were staying dry during the night and using the toilet all day. You could try placing a mat on the bed that is waterproof, so if she does wet it, you can just replace the mat and not have to change all the sheets. For outings, I have never been a fan of public toilets, so I would take a small potty chair in the car with us. If my child needed to go, I would place a plastic bag in the potty to line it, then I would give them wipes and sanitizer. We only needed to do that a few times. I have never been able to do this, but this article on toilet training in one day may offer some tips for you, as well.